Evil MUST Be Resisted

Throughout the known history of the world, there have been nearly constant military confrontations.  The reason for some of them is easily seen, with one hostile force openly attacking another, a situation that in most cases demands a response from the attacked.  In other cases, there have been hostilities, intrigues and covert actions between forces or nations, seething for years or even centuries, that finally erupted into open warfare.  In those cases the reasons for the eventual wars may be much more difficult to determine.  The resulting visible and lasting physical damage due to the ravages of the wars is often the ONLY thing easily seen, but very difficult to accept, especially for the loser.

There is a war raging in this world today, not a new one, but one that has been ongoing since the early days of man’s creation. The battles and battlegrounds have changed from nation to nation, empire to empire, continent to continent; the combatants also change with the geographic locations, but though there have been many such changes, the ultimate goal, being “to the victor goes the spoils”, has not.

Just as a physical battle has its leadership, with the generals directing the strategy and allowing their orders to flow down through the ranks where they are to be obeyed by the ground level fighters, so does the spiritual battle being discussed here today.  That battle is often started, and many times won, by the use of deception.  The author of the brilliant work, “The Art of War”, Sun Tsu, the Chinese general, military strategist and philosopher, once stated: “All warfare is based on deception”.  Because the end goal of any conflict is to overcome and and control an opponent, deception allows a well-trained warrior to confuse and disorient his enemies, providing an advantage and thus enabling a swift and sure victory.

The Propaganda War

Propaganda is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as, 1) the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person; and 2) ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause.  It can be surmised that, based on the definitions above, there is likely little truth in any propaganda.

In fact, the first ‘world war’ was a Propaganda War. It started in the Garden of Eden when Satan, speaking through the serpent, questioned the words that God had said to his new human creation.  Satan was trying to get Adam and Eve, the only residents of earth at that time, to change the way they were taught, by God Himself, to think and believe.  The purpose of his attack was to undermine God’s influence on man by questioning the truth of God’s words and to get man to give the dominion over earth to Satan. The first word out of Satan’s mouth started the Propaganda War, and unfortunately, he won that first battle when Eve accepted his words and ate of the forbidden fruit.

All propaganda is deception cleverly clothed in smooth words.  It is mostly the ideas of an individual, or possibly a political regime, that wishes to control the thinking of those to whom the propaganda is sent. The war now plaguing the world and especially the United States, is simply a newer version of the original propaganda war, one that uses propaganda, cleverly disguised words instead of bullets.  And in the same manner that the top generals in a real ‘shooting war’ lead their troops by providing the battle strategy to the lower echelon, the top leader of the war we are now in directs his minions on how to ‘propagandize’ all those who might challenge his authority and his agenda.  Those demonic minions have used their cunning and treacherous skills to pass on the use of propaganda throughout the ages to evil people whose deception has corrupted the minds of millions of the ignorant and unsuspecting.  The Propaganda War is a war of deception.

The human propaganda minions of today also have become very skilled at their work; they likely learned some tricks from those in Nazi Germany who were masters of propaganda.  For example, here are some quotes from the Nazi Reich Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels:

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” ~Joseph Goebbels

“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it.” ~ Goebbels

“It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.” ~ Goebbels

The propagandists use their skills  as well as the trained military uses guns and bullets.  Because the ‘work’ they do has been given some legitimacy in the world, mostly by ‘academia’, they are listened to and their ideas are often accepted and adopted by many targeted individuals as well as those who determine  national policy in many countries.

Edward Bernays, the man considered ‘the father of public opinion’, who was also the nephew of Sigmund Freud, Psychoanalysis guru, wrote in his book, “Propaganda”, published in 1928: “Those who manipulate the organized habits  and opinions of the masses constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of the country…it remains a fact that in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons….it is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world….As civilization has become more complex, and as the need for invisible government has been increasingly demonstrated, the technical means have been invented and developed by which opinion may be regimented.”

Defense Against Propaganda

The use of propaganda to change the way people think is inherently evil.  If left unchecked, it will lead to the subjugation of the human mind to forces that only wish to steal, kill and destroy.  All that we hear MUST be carefully considered as to its true purpose.  This means that all the information provided by mainstream media must be carefully examined to determine whether it is truth (unlikely) or simply propaganda.  For those who are ‘news junkies’, a proper defense starts with weaning oneself off the propaganda teat of Mainstream Media and ALL social media.

It should now be very evident that the 2020 election fiasco was caused by the overwhelming control exhibited by the MSM and social media over what Americans think, and thus how they act.  And before that event, the introduction of much false information about a ‘new (novel) coronavirus being touted as the most deadly in many decades caused a panicked and fearful public to quickly follow the guidelines issued by a corrupt government and medical industry, thus leading to the near collapse of our economy and the changes in our election system that caused the election fiasco.

It remains to be seen whether the damage done to America is permanent or whether our nation can ever again be considered the land of the free.  I would like to express optimism but I will admit I am NOT overly optimistic about the future of America as a free and prosperous nation.

Wolves Among The Sheep

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15 KJV)

Even in Christian settings, the words being used by those who have a public voice should be closely scrutinized to determine whether they align with the words given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Scriptures.

Not every person claiming to be Christian is actually that.

Not every pastor is a true shepherd of the flock.

Throughout the history of the Church age, many wicked men have infiltrated into the Body of Christ and attempted to separate the sheep from the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  They do this using smooth-sounding words that, when carefully considered, actually question what the Bible has said.  They may sound wonderful, but in reality, they are nothing more than evil propaganda and deception and they must not be listened to or received into our minds.

When we understand the processes being used against the world at large, propaganda campaigns that are intended to influence, mold and forever change the thinking of the people in every  area of their lives, the instruction below from the Apostle Paul takes on a new urgency for every true believer.  As Christians, we are taught to have our minds renewed, not by propaganda, but by every word that proceeds from God.  The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the believers in Rome: “And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2 KJV). 

The first step in this godly transformation is the submission of ourselves to God as outlined in verse 1 of that same chapter: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1 KJV).  This requires a thorough knowledge of what God says about truth, lies and deception, and an understanding of God’s word so that we can only allow our minds to be influenced, or transformed, by His truth.

At some point in the life of every believer, an event will occur that requires the evil we encounter be challenged.  For example, the people pushing the war of propaganda now demand we all accept their accounts of events and the reason for the events rather than searching for the truth of the matter.  To these people, truth means little or nothing, only the winning of the war matters to them.  As Christians, we MUST not allow ourselves to be moved by their evil propaganda.

One of the loudest cries now from the unsaved and the propagandists is what they are calling the ’systemic racism’ they say is destroying our nation.  They throw the word ‘racism’ out as though they actually know what they are talking about; they usually define racism as the hatred of people of one skin color against people of a different skin color.

For generations, the propagandists have tried to convince the world, with some amazing success, that there are multiple races of people on earth and that the ‘race’ is primarily determined by their skin color.  While it is true that there are masses of humans with varying skin colors, physical features and languages, this does not mean that each ‘skin color group’ is a different race from the others.  According to the Bible, man was created as ‘one’, and ‘in the image of God’ (Genesis 1:26-27 KJV).  The man, and the woman who was made ‘from man’, were created/made by God, in his image and likeness.

From that perspective, all men and women proceeded from the joining (marriage) of Adam and Eve to reproduce, multiply and to replenish the earth.  It can be further argued that all men and women alive today and who were born after the ‘Flood of Noah’, proceed from Noah, since he, his wife, his three sons and their wives were the only eight humans to survive the devastating flood that God used to destroy all unrighteous people on earth in hopes of erasing the evil that had corrupted the earth since the Propaganda War resulted in the disobedient acts of Adam and Eve.

After that flood, the only people capable of reproducing in their likeness were Noah and his wife  and his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their wives; all humans who have lived since the flood proceeded from those eight men and women, who had themselves proceeded from the union of Adam and Eve.  So from that perspective, there has only been one ‘race’, the ‘human race’, from the beginning of time.

I will not venture too deeply into the murky waters of the question of why there are now people with white skin, brown skin, black skin and yellow skin.  But there has been some interesting scientific research on the part that genes play in determining human skin color.  In fact, geneticists  have determined that many hundreds of ‘stretches of DNA’ sometimes work together to decide a specific skin color.  It has also been determined that, over a long period of time, human actions can change the way a human body ‘reads’ its DNA.  One example might be that a person who spends long periods of time out in the sun, thus darkening his or her own skin, causes his DNA to activate the genes that decide skin color, thus producing offspring that have the inherited features of the parents, including skin color.  Is this a scientific explanation for the existence of many people with dark brown or black skin?  No, and I would be the first to say that it is only a possible explanation.  Moreover, I believe that if God had wanted us to have a thorough explanation for it, He likely would have put it in His word.

I am perfectly willing to accept the simple answer that, perhaps God allowed the skin of people from one generation to another to adapt and produce additional shades of color, possibly as a means of living successfully in certain geographical areas where temperatures are much hotter than other, more moderate areas.  That idea does not mean that they are of a different race, which could only have happened if a totally different individual, with a unique DNA, different from that of God, had entered the human race and somehow changed the DNA from its original makeup.  Another, more simple explanation might be that God just likes variety.  After all, no two leaves on a tree are exactly alike, nor are any two snowflakes exactly alike.  Personally, I like the ‘variety explanation’.

Why Does Evil Persist?

God in His infinite wisdom, had created Adam and made Eve to be ignorant of evil, knowing that, in the day they became aware of evil, and the difference between evil and good, they would have to choose between the two.  That has been a requirement for nearly 6,000 years now, since man and woman decided to choose the knowledge that required the difficult and deadly choice, the choice to know the difference between good and evil.  That choice brought sorrow, suffering and death into the world that God had originally made as a perfect dwelling place.

Since the day that God’s created people followed the serpent, being used by Satan, evil has existed in the world and has brought great misery and torment to billions of humans.  Seemingly, from the human perspective, there appears to be no way to defeat evil.  I truly believe that most people have accepted as fact, the premise that we are doomed to live in a cursed world that is dominated by evil forces with little or no way to free ourselves from its control.  However, we who truly believe what God has said, KNOW that the means to eliminate evil was born of a Jewish virgin nearly 2000 years ago, and He is the only way to a life free from evil.  He can raise up the ones who will actively resist and challenge evil.  Unless we see one of God’s fearless warriors do this, America will not likely survive the coming onslaught of pure evil.  The problems facing this nation now are spiritual in nature and are not going to be solved by any politician, in fact politicians of every stripe and letter have been the cause of most of the problems we have ever seen.  Bonnie Harvey of Hebrew Nation News (Radio) once said: “There is no political solution to a spiritual problem.”

It is true that we must live in the world as it was passed on to us, and it is indeed evil, being under the control of Satan, who is called “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV).  As long as he has any control over a majority of humans living in this world, alongside us, things will be somewhat difficult.  Evil does not just “play nicely with others”; it always tries to rise up and dominate everything in sight and if it cannot easily dominate, it will use whatever means available to destroy all that oppose it.

How to Resist (Challenge) Evil

In 1 Kings, we find that Israel was under the control of one of the most wicked women who ever lived, Jezebel, the wife of a weak Jewish king, Ahab.  Jezebel instituted the worship of Baal, the false Canaanite god to whom Israel began sacrificing their children.  This wicked woman had tried to eliminate all opposition to her evil plans and might have succeeded except that a true prophet of God, Elijah, stood forth and challenged the prophets of Baal.  The account of his victory over Jezebel, Baal and evil can be read in 1 Kings 18.  The main point is that, when a true man of God was needed, the Lord had one ready, willing and able to challenge evil.  It raises the question that every American believer should now be asking: “Where is our Elijah”?  In fact, where are the silent pulpits of America?  Has anyone seen or heard them actively challenging, or even resisting evil in recent times?

Though there be many Christians who fear Satan, and all things evil, fear of him will not only NOT stop him, because fear negates our faith, it will strengthen him in his pursuit of our destruction.  He plays on our fears and uses them against us.  No, we must find and constantly use the spiritual tools that will challenge evil and stop him in his tracks.  In the book of James we are told:

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”  (James 4:7 KJV).  Also, in the book of 1 Peter we are taught, “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, AS a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he MAY devour; whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9 KJV emphasis mine).

Please notice that Satan is NOT a roaring lion, he only masquerades as one, hoping that the fear he can induce will ALLOW him to devour and destroy.  Fear will change the ‘may devour’ into a definite ‘can devour’.

Consider Jesus as our example of challenging, resisting and stopping Satan and all evil.  When He was driven into the wilderness to be tempted, He used the only tool that was completely effective: The Word of God!.. No matter what Satan offered Jesus to try to get Him to turn from God, Jesus only said: “It is written….” Satan knows what God has said and he also knows that God DOES NOT change, WILL NOT change and he also knows that the words God has spoken are eternal and are just as effective today as they were when Jesus used them to chase Satan from His presence.  Jesus knew that He had to set the example of proper resistance to evil so that we, 2,000 years later, could also put Satan on the run.  Jesus knew that, had he accepted the evil that Satan offered, He would be the defeated one, NOT Satan.

Conclusion

The ideal way to stop evil would be to evangelize the whole world and get everyone born again, thus destroying Satan’s kingdom forever.  But we all know this is only a pipedream; with that human trait, called free will, no matter how hard we might try, there will be those who refuse to listen to truth, instead choosing to follow evil, sadly, to their own destruction.

It still behooves us all to do our utmost to reach as many as possible to urge them to hear and choose truth.  Doing so will make eternity a much better time for all.  But, in the here and now, we must still face the challenge of living in the ‘cursed world/cursed earth’ state and do what we are commanded by Jesus: “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13 KJV).

We all should now be aware of the evil that has infiltrated all levels of human existence, but especially at the highest levels of ALL governments.  The evil ones have used, and will continue to use, their propaganda against us in their endless efforts to influence how and what we think and believe, and thereby, our behaviors.  We MUST NOT give in to this propaganda.  If it means cutting all ties with the MSM ana all social media and their lies, that is what will be required to keep ourselves from evil.  Now is the most critical time in history for all believers.  The time for trying to keep one foot ‘in the world’ and the rest of the body ‘in Christ’ is over.  Remember the words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil”.  If anything we encounter has even a slight tinge of evil connected to it, abstinence from it is our only godly choice.  The only way to do that is by living a fear-free, faith-filled life, and the only way to do that is by digging deeply into, and following, God’s word: “So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17 KJV).

To occupy successfully, we must cast aside all fear and, using our faith, boldly challenge and resist evil with the word of God.

ACCEPTANCE OF EVIL IS AS DANGEROUS AS PARTICIPATION IN EVIL, THEREFORE, EVIL MUST BE CHALLENGED/RESISTED!

EVIL UNCHALLENGED IS EVIL UNCONTROLLED!

Blessings!

budaroo@twc.com

©Bud Hancock. All rights reserved.

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